Research Reports
An Analysis on the Circulation of Agricultural Land and Suggestions for Political Tasks
-
AuthorKim, Soosuk
-
Publication Date2007.08.01
-
Original
The purposes of this study are to analyze the current agricultural structure through the examination of agricultural land circulation and to suggest political tasks to activate farmland circulation.
The volume of farmland transactions has been gradually increasing in the 2000s and the transacted land accounted for 4 to 6 percent of the total agricultural land in size. This ratio of transacted land is not insignificant even compared to foreign countries like Germany. Thus, it can be said that farmland transactions took place without difficulty on the quantitative side.
Farmland circulation had different effects on farmland according to farm household types. The circulation of land transactions has influenced the farm households with land under 0.5ha to reduce their farmland whereas farm households with land over 3ha were influenced to expand their enterprises by accumulating agricultural land. (The reduction of farmland in the farm households with land under 0.5ha was characterized by a decrease in the farmland under farmers' ownership.) It is because the land transactions were made partly by the "under 0.5ha" farm households who want to farm on a small land under their ownership. On the other hand, land transactions were also made by the "over 3ha" farm households who expand their enterprise through land purchase and tenancy.
The land tenancy trend in the 2000s shows that the total amount of leased farmland was gradually increasing until 2004, when it started to decrease. This can be attributed to the fact that there are factors that restrict or at least not facilitate the circulation of farmland tenancy. However, altering and renewing land tenancy contracts within leased farmlands have contributed to the active circulation of land tenancy, which is estimated to account for 10% of the total agricultural land and one fifth of the total leased farmland. Through this process, farm households with land over 3ha are expanding their enterprise.
The average size of farmland per household resulted by land circulation has not been increasing recently, but rather slightly decreased since 2004. It is mainly because the decrease rate of farm households is not high enough to exceed the decrease rate of agricultural land. In the year 2006, the average size of farmland per household is estimated to have been 1.45ha.
Desirable measures to facilitate the circulation of agricultural land are to restructure the farmland system institutionally and to politically promote a project on handing over the enterprises of eldest farmers.
The principle to restructure the farmland system is ultimately to abolish all restrictions on farmland ownership and tenancy. But this goal should be attained only when a planned diversion system of agricultural land can replace the current diversion of small and dispersed lands for use. When this is realized, it will boost the circulation of farmland without speculative demand for agricultural land.
In order to improve the agricultural structure, two measures on handing over farmlands should be phased in as follows:
First, the introduction of a handover project for farmers over 75 years of age as primary subjects.
Second, the continuation of handover projects for farmers over 70 years and for farmers over 65 years of age as next subjects.
Researchers: Soo-Suk Kim, Joo-Nyung Heo
Research period: 2007. 4. - 2007. 8.
E-mail address: soosuk@krei.re.kr, knuhjn@krei.re.kr
- Next
- Technological Innovation of Korean Agriculture : Performance and Developmental Strategy
- Prev
- A Study on the Introduction of Livelihood Stabilization Programs for elderly Retired Farmers